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> I've been on a lot of contract assignments in the last 15
> years and I can't
> remember ever starting an assignment and requiring more than
> the first
> morning on the job to get up to speed and begin being
> productive.
Me too.
> I'm not a
> manager and don't even play one on TV but I think if I hired
> a writer and
> they took two weeks to get up to speed, I'd seriously question my
> interviewing skills.
That made me laugh for some reason.
> Of course, a lot depends on the "on-boarding" process... I've
> heard stories
> of contractors walking in to an office and not having a
> computer for two
> weeks. Being prepared for a new troop is essential. Not only does the
> computer (with proper toolset installed) and access have to
I read "toolset" as "toilet."
> be ready and
> waiting but some documentation of the resources (network
> shares, help desk,
> etc.), style guidelines, org chart, list of assigned deliverables and
> expectations.
I've been on a lot of contracts where equipment wasn't ready and I had to
"borrow" the workstation of somebody on vacation. I made jokes that I would
finally get my own workstation when the contract was finished. I didn't
fault the manager, though. This case was like other cases that I've seen
where the manager scrambles to get approval to bring on the contractor, but
the equipment policy is that a person be on-site before they can order
certain equipment from facilities and there might be a delay of two weeks.
On one job, I needed to set-up part of my work order with private
information, like my SSN, so I needed to be there for that. I don't know
why they couldn't coordinate this with the on-site agency that placed me,
but, whatever.
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